We Are Busy Bodies
Album Review: Nick Storring – ‘Mirante’: A unique percussive and orchestral panorama from the Canadian multi-instrumentalist.
Delving into the musical potential of the humbucker pick-up and other electro-mechanical instruments, getting inspired by ghost towns in Ontario, recording a whole album from a pedestrian bridge near to his home and composing for a new instrument, the halldorophone, Nick Storring is the archetypal, restless experimenter. He’s driven by the ‘what if’ and the …
Album Review: No Frills –”Sad Clown” : Honest songs that chime and chill from Toronto’s Lo-fi indie realists.
It’s been a while since anything’s been heard of Daniel Busheikin and his No Frills buddies. The Toronto band’s self-released debut album ‘Downward Dog’ trundled into the US college radio charts of summer ’22 with its lo-fi jangling pop, chiming with Mersey Beat and 45rpm melodics. Busheikin’s songs saw funny and fragile tangled together, stories …
Album Review: Peace Flag Ensemble – ‘Everything Is Possible’: sublime and intimate jazz-toned portraits from the Saskatchewan sextet.
Saskatchewan sound sculptors Peace Flag Ensemble are a band who always seem to go about things quietly. No Fanfares, no bombast, a musical collective whose fluent jazz-toned, post rock dynamics thrum with soft power. They aim for an intimate impact. Their shimmering debut ‘Noteland’ from 2019, balanced ambience and improvisation exquisitely, conjuring up justified Keith …
Track : Peace Flag Ensemble preview upcoming album with the intricate ambient jazz ballad ‘The Past Is What Changes The Most’.
Now here’s some news that makes looking beyond the festive maul less difficult. Saskatchewan sound sculptors Peace Flag Ensemble have announced that their new album ‘Everything is Possible’ will arrive via We Are Busy Bodies on 7th Feb. This will be their third for the label and the fascination will be in finding out in …
Track/Video: Lo-fi indie realists No Frills preview upcoming album with the chiming ‘Shopping In The Toothpaste Aisle’.
It’s been a while since anything’s been heard of Daniel Busheikin and his No Frills buddies. The Toronto band’s self-released debut album ‘Downward Dog’ trundled into the US college radio charts of summer ’22 with its lo-fi jangling pop, chiming with Mersey Beat and Sarah Records melodics. Busheikin’s songs saw funny and fragile tangled together, …
Album Review: Michael Scott Dawson – ‘The Tinnitus Chorus’ : A poignant and moving ambient statement crafted through collaboration.
Saskatchewan sound artist and producer Michael Scott Dawson is someone who’s both artistically prolific and restless. A stalwart for the Torontonian We Are Busy Bodies label, he’s released three solo albums plus two other records as a lead member of post-rock minimalists Peace Flag Ensemble, and all since 2020. But Dawson’s momentum has been cruelly …
Album Review: Colin Fisher – Suns of the Heart : Spectacular sound sculptures with an internal energy.
“Distinctly gifted musician”, “Canadian mainstay”, “master sonic storyteller” are all quotable snippets which journos have rustled up for multi-instrumentalist and composer Colin Fisher. But as you dig into his sprawling catalogue you begin to realise that for once these aren’t empty words, if anything they’re an understatement. Here is a musician who’s been energising the …
Track: Sound artist extraordinaire, Michael Scott Dawson previews new album with the achingly poignant ‘Present Day’.
You could say that Saskatchewan sound artist and producer Michael Scott Dawson is a key contributor to the We Are Busy Bodies catalogue. Since 2020 he’s gifted the label three solo albums and two collections as a lead member of the post rock minimalists Peace Flag Ensemble, but those numbers only hint at his significance. …
Track/Video: Revered multi-instrumental improviser Colin Fisher previews upcoming new album with the spectacular, guitar sculpted ‘Acts Of Light’.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer Colin Fisher has been energising the Toronto music scene and beyond for around two decades now. A virtuoso guitarist, acclaimed sax player, drummer and more, a brilliant interpretive improviser, a boundary pushing electronic artist, Fisher’s work confounds easy definition. He’s played alongside Jamie Branch, Joe McPhee, Braxton, Laaraji and Frith as well …
Album Review : iPhupho L’ka Biko- ‘Azania’ : introducing a significant South African jazz collective destined to reach out further.
Another piece of vinyl community service here from the We Are Busy Bodies team, sharing out the treasures of South African jazz to a wider listenership. This time though it’s not about resurrecting a long-lost classic from the golden seventies, ‘Azania’ by iPhupho L’ka Biko is the vinyl debut by a band that are now …